The U.S. Postal Service did something for the first time last year, and it was so successful, they're planning to do it again: launch a summer sale.

The 2010 Summer Sale is scheduled to run July 1 through Sept. 30 and will provide a 30 percent rebate to eligible mailers on Standard Mail letters and flats volume above a predetermined threshold. The threshold will be five percent over each participating mailer's volume for the same period in 2009. Invitations to participate in the sale will be sent to customers in early March.

"The 2010 Summer Sale is our way of rewarding our most loyal customers and demonstrates that we value their business," said Robert F. Bernstock, president, Mailing and Shipping Services. "We expect the 2010 Summer Sale to provide as much excitement about direct mail as the sale did last year and to generate between 300 million and 1 billion new mailpieces."

Nearly half the 960 customers enrolled in the 2009 Summer Sale increased their mailing volumes. This resulted in approximately 1 billion incremental pieces during the sale period, producing a net revenue contribution of $24 million.

"Direct mail works, and our customers know that," said Bernstock. "That's why we will continue to invest in programs that promote the health of our customers' businesses as well as our own. We very much appreciate our customers' business, and we will compete aggressively for their advertising and promotion dollars in this highly competitive marketplace."

To be eligible to participate in the 2010 Summer Sale, a company must have mailed 350,000 or more Standard Mail letters and flats between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2009. Approximately 3,525 customers are expected to be eligible to participate in the sale, representing 67 percent of the Postal Service's Standard Mail volume.

The 2010 Summer Sale is a component of a broader pricing strategy that creates incentives to grow and retain volume. It was one of many solutions discussed this week at a Washington, D.C.-stakeholder event in which Postmaster General and CEO John E. Potter addressed hundreds of customers, business partners, employees and the media during a presentation:  Envisioning America's Future Postal Service. At the event, Potter outlined an aggressive plan of cost cutting, increased productivity, and an array of legislative and regulatory changes necessary to maintain a viable Postal Service.

The 2010 Standard Mail Summer Sale is subject to approval by the Postal Regulatory Commission.